Needle-threading attachment for sewing-machines



(No Model.) 2

W. L.- SPENCER.

NEEDLE THREADING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 282,233. Patented July 31. 1883.

N4 PETERS, Photo-uma u her. Wa'Jungwfl, ac.

WUNLTED" STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. SPENCER, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

NEEDLE-THREADINGATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent, No. 282,233, dated July31, 1883.

' Application filed December 16,1882. (No model.)

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM L. SPENCER, of Springfield, in the county ofHampden and State of Massachusetts, have inventedla new the machine; andI accomplish this by the and useful Improvement in Threading Attachmentsfor Sewing-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide device adapted to bepermanently attached to any sewing-machine and swung down into positionin front of the needle and used to insert the thread through the eye ofthe machine-needle, and which is adapted to be movedvertieally and alsolaterally to adjust itself with reference to the position of theneedle-eye of mechanism substantially as hereinafter described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I is aperspective frontview of the threading device, showing it as attached tothe head of a sewing-machine. Fig. II is a perspective rear view of thesame as attached to a sewing-machine. Fig. III is a side view of thedevice, and Fig. IV is a horizontal section at line A of Fig. III.

In the drawings, 1 represents the two side plates or two sides of thedevice, which may consist of two thin sheet-metal plates, with a block,as 2, placed between them near one end, and all secured together bysolder or by rivets, as 5, or in any other desired and efficient11121111161. tends out in front of the block 2 to form a guide, as B, toguide the threading-needle into the eye or into the outer groove of themachine-needle, andthis guide is provided with a protuberance orenlargement, 11, (more particularly in a vertical direction,) at theextreme end, with a neck, as 8, immediately in its rear. The block 2 isprovided with ahorizontal socket or slot at 12, adapted to receive aneedle, 7, having a notch, as 10, made in its lower edge, and whichneedle extends horizontally alongside and parallel with the guide B, andat a sufficient distance therefrom to permit the point or extremeend ofthe needle 7 to enter the eye or the outer groove of the machine-needlewhen the said guide is placed against the side of the machine-needle. Anadjusting screw, 6, turned into a threaded hole in the block 2 andagainst the side of the One endof. one of the plates 1 ex I needle 7,serves to securethe latter with its brought against the needle, willreadilyenter,

the notch.

The rear part of the device may be made of any convenient form to beused as a handle when made of sheet metal. I prefer to bend one of theside plates, 1, inward against the other, andsecure them together, as bya rivet, 13. A stud or pin, as 4, is made upon or secured to the handle,to which, as a pivot, I secure the lower end of a spring, 3, so that theblock '2 may have a slight vertical tilting movement thereon and Isecure the other end of this spring 3 to the head of a sewingma chine,preferably by a screw inserted through a hole in the end of the springand turned into the head of the machine, so that the attachment may beswung upon this screw as a pivot down into position in front of themachine needle when required for use, or be swung away from its positionin front of the machine needle and up against the head of the machine,in which position the spring 3 operates to re tain it when not in use.

Vhen the device is brought down into position in front of themachine-needle, it hangs or is pendent upon the stud or pin 4, and ismovable in a lateral direction upon the pivot or screw which secures theupper end of the spring 3 to the head of the machine, so that the deviceis perfectly adjustable in any direction to permit the end of the needle7 to be readily inserted into the eyes of needles which vary in theirlength.

To thread the needle of any machine provided with this attachment, thelatter is swung from its position against the head of the ma chine intoa position in front of the machineneedle, with the inner side of theguide B placed against the side of said needle. The device being thengently forced toward the machine-needle, the extreme end of the needle 7enters the outer groove of the 1nachine-needle, and by tilting thehandle of the attach- IOO ment up or down, the needle 7 will slide up ordown in said groove, and when opposite the eye will enter the latter bypressure until the notch 10 passes entirely through the eye of themachinemeedle. The thread, extending down from the head of the machine,is passed down on one side of the guide B, and beneath the needle 7, andin the recess ,9, and up the other side of the guide, causing the threadto enter the notch 10, and while the thread is held taut with thefingers the device is drawn away from the machine-needle, withdrawingits needle 7 from the eye of the former, and a loop of the thread isdrawn through the needle-eye. The device being then swung upon its pivotat the upper end of the spring 3, to bring the device up into itsposition against the head of the machine, the loop of thread is caughtaround the neck 8 just behind the protuberance 11, and the end of thethread is drawn through the needle-eye by the mere op eration of movingthe attachment up into its place, where it remains when not in use.

This device may be attached to any machine, and, being adapted as apermanent at tachment, it is always ready for immediate use.

The attachment may be made either. from sheet metal, and the partssecured together by rivets or by solder, or in any other desired manner;or it may be cast from any suitable it may not be necessary to pivot theblock containing the needle 7 to the spring 3; but the latter may beattached to the block or to its handle rigidly, and in any desiredmanner, so

7 that when pivoted to the head of the machine by the spring 3 and swungdown into position in front of the machine-needle the needle 7 of theattachment will come so nearly opposite the eye of the machine-needlethat the elasticity of the spring will allow the attachment to tiltsufliciently to cause the needle 7 to readily find and enter the eye ofthe ma chine-needle. It will be seen that the exposed end of the needle7 is extended somewhat be.- yond the notch 10, sufficiently to enablethe end to have afirm bearing against the guide when drawn over in thatdirection by the oper-- ation of drawing the thread through the needleeye. This construction provides a firm support for the needle againstany undue strain, and obviates liability of breakage of the needle fromthat cause; and as the end of the threading-needle 7 is extended orelongated beyond its notch 10, this extended or elongated end may have acomparatively firm bearing in the eye of the machine-needle, even beforethe notch reaches the eye, in entering it, so that the threading-needle7 is supported within the eye of the machine-needle, while the notch ispassing to and from its position to engage the thread, by this elongatedor extended end of the threading-needle beyond its notch.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Thecombination of a block, 2, containing a socket to receive athreading-needle, and

said block by an adjusting-screw, 'and a guide extending horizontallyfrom said block parallel with said needle, and provided with a recess,9, in its lower edge, and with a protuberance, 11, on the extremeforward end of said guide, substantially as described.

2. An improved needle-threading attachment for sewing-machines,containing a horizontal threading-needle having a notch in its lowerside, and secured in a block attached to a spring which is adapted to bepivoted to the head of a sewing-machine, and a guide extending from saidblock parallel with the said needle to guide the latter into the eye ofthe machine-needle, and with a recess in its lower edge to guide thethread into the notch of the threading-needle, and a protuberance on thefront end of the guide to catch the loop of thread and draw its endthrough the needleeye, the said parts being combined substantially asdescribed.

3. In an improved needle-threading attachment for sewing-machines, athreading-needle having a notch in its exposed lower side, and

with the exposed end of said needle extended WVILLIAM L. SPEJOER.

\Vitnesses:

T. A. CURTIs, CHAS. H. W001).

